Switching from a traditional or another VoIP billing system to a modern and advanced VoIP billing software is common in the IP telephony industry. Billing is a crucial business aspect and it needs to be handled by the best tool. However, the migration process needs expertise and a knack for the whole procedure to ensure things go smoothly during and after the migration. Thus, it is necessary to put VoIP experts in VoIP billing system migration.
There are some common challenges that can appear during the migration process. If you have put an expert VoIP development company or engineer, then nothing to worry about as they will handle these challenges with ease. However, if you are trying the migration by yourself or with your in-house team, it is recommended to know the major difficulties related to the migration process and how to overcome them.
(1) Data migration challenges
Mostly these challenges are related to the data structure. Different VoIP billing solutions can have different data structures to save data. While migrating from an old system to the new VoIP billing software, causes errors related to data export to the new system due to different data structures.
Solution
Usually, VoIP professionals identify the changes in the data structure and run a script to make the required data structure change. In some cases, changing the data structure is not possible and this becomes a major drawback of VoIP billing system migration. You will need to make the manual or script based data entry to the news system.
(2) Billing configurations
As you already have a VoIP billing system in place and you are migrating to the new one, you will need to configure the billing rules and settings in the new system. The migration process will need to consider challenges related to the configurations. It is likely that your new system will have additional and advanced features. For example, a FreeSWITCH billing solution will have more advanced billing features than an Asterisk billing system.
Solution
You need to understand the features and configuration settings of your billing system. In many cases, the support contract of the FreeSWITCH billing solution includes the configuration as part of the software cost. Alternatively, you may pay additional for support and get the configurations done.
(3) Infrastructure reutilization
Different VoIP billing solutions need different configurations of cloud space or servers. It may also require different gateways or other hardware to function fully. This and similar issues may cause challenges related to reusing existing infrastructure.
Solution
Make an advanced plan to maximize the reuse of your existing infrastructure. You can discuss with your FreeSWITCH or Asterisk billing system provider about the infrastructure reuse concern and its solution.
Concluding notes
Switching from an outdated or restricted billing system to the new one would be a profitable move for your business. But, you need to have a well defined plan and a skilled team to make the migration process easy and smooth. Keep the top 3 difficulties that may occur during the migration process.
